The Pietermaritzburg High Court has dismissed the legal challenge brought by construction group Grinaker-LTA against the tender process for the erection of a new airport to be built north of Durban, Engineering News Online can report on Friday.

Grinaker-LTA Building MD Neil Cloete said in a telephone interview that the judge had not yet given reasons for his decision, and did not say when he would, and that the firm was still considering whether it would accept the judgment, or lodge a further appeal.

“We are obviously disappointed,” he said, but added that the firm had asked the court to make a decision on the matter, which it had done.

The Ilembe consortium, led by Group Five and Wilson Bayley Holmes-Ovcon, was named as the preferred bidder for the project.  In an interview with Engineering News Online, on January 29, Group Five CEO designate Mike Upton said that the consortium stood by its bid, which he believed to be a “fabulous tender”.  “We believe our partnership for the bid was the best” he said. “Our team really did a smart job.”

Meanwhile, the Indiza group, which included Grinaker-LTA, was reportedly not considered as the preferred bidder, because it did not meet certain tender requirements.

Both consortia prequalified for the tender in April 2006.

Grinaker-LTA, however, had claimed that the correct tender processes were not followed and that its document was unfairly excluded.  Grinaker-LTA parent company, Aveng CEO Carl Grim said that the Ilembe consortium was appointed the preferred bidder, without the Indiza group's bid having been fairly adjudicated.  “There are certain processes that need to happen when deciding on the preferred bidder, such as discussing the bids with the tenderer,” Grim stated. “This, among other things, didn't happen.”

However, Upton said that he did not believe there were “any issues” with the bids, and that he hoped the case would “go away quickly”, so that construction could begin.

The Dube TradePort incorporated, as its anchor component, the King Shaka International Airport, which would replace Durban's existing airport.

The first step of the project would include the aeronautical footprint, the King Shaka International Airport, which will include a four-million-passenger-a-year terminal, runway, air-traffic control tower, fuel farm and related infrastructure.  The second step would be the trade zone, with full customs and excise facilities and bonded areas.

The new airport would be built, owned and operated by Airports Company South Africa (Acsa), while the Dube Tradeport would develop the nearby trade zone.

Shares in Aveng, which owns Grinaker-LTA, closed 0,07% higher on Friday, at R41,03.